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Monday, 24 December 2012

An Open Letter to all Young Protesters

Dear Young Protestor,

Violence
can never be muted by violence.

The
recent act of brutality against the young woman from Delhi has left me
distressed much like you. But what has me surprised is the reactions that have
poured in. Clearly this young lady wasn't the first victim but none
had taken up this issue before. Suddenly there were protests around the country
with young people taking to the streets demanding justice. The social
networking sites were ablaze with the seriousness of the crime and how women
are so unsafe. Pause. Is this really news?

Pictures
of protestors carrying “Men respect your women not rape them” are still doing
the rounds. If you thought holding a placard with the above slogan would stop
these savages from devouring their next prey, Utopia would not be far away.

You are
standing in various parts of the country, Protesting. Alright. Against
what? Are you protesting against the fact that a woman was raped? Are you
protesting against the fact that this country has a disproportional ratio when
it comes to police and the people? No. You are supposedly protesting against
the Government. Again I ask Why? Do you expect that the government by some
miracle with a swish of a magic wand will dissuade these perpetrators of injustice from their acts
of savagery?

A clarion
call was made by a few “Interested” members of society stating that rape should
now entail the death penalty. S. 302 of the Indian Penal Code, has been on the
statute books for 152 years now and murders are still happening. The point I am
trying to make here is retributive laws may make for extra paper work in the
Parliament but as far as acting as a dissuading force, the chances are slim. I
have no issues with the Statute being amended but I have my doubts on how
effective this will be.

The
protests on Raisina Hill were not a display of the courage of the youth to
stand up for themselves. And I know this because even here in Pune we had a
similar protest. As a young person and as a woman myself let me just introduce
you to reality. In a bid to get a few extra sound bytes the media has been
effectively stirring up the people against the political class and these
protests were anything but peaceful. A friend of mine living in Delhi witnessed
young people attack a few cops. When he voiced his opinion on Twitter, he was
effectively silenced by people who thought they knew too much and he was lying.
And this is the moot problem. People no more want the truth. A few
protesters vehemently stated that the police system is useless and ineffective.
Has it struck you that in the process of standing guard at the various protest
sites so that unwanted miscreants don’t take advantage of the situation, at
that very moment you may have perhaps deprived another victim of a crime of
timely help and he/she is helpless because the police are busy trying to keep
things under control at these protest sites?

If
the police aren't doing anything what are you doing? Have you forgotten the
Jessica Lall case? It is easy to state that the judiciary is slow but how many
of you have taken the conscious efforts to find out why. Countless incidents go
un-reported, many more cases are registered and then closed for lack of
evidence and witnesses. The truth is that as mute spectators to crimes we are
also guilty of a crime whose penalty isn't seen in the statute books but whose
criminality is worse than that of the offenders.

As I
write this I am receiving a message that reads: I request you to boycott the 26thJanuary, 2013 Republic Day Parade as a
sign of protest. To the dimwit who started this, I will never insult my country
for the pleasure of a few and for those who think that boycotting the Parade
will help, here’s to remind those considering this a wise move that you are not
wounding the Government or the political class but you are definitely insulting
Our country as a whole!

For all
those who marched on the streets in different parts of the country, if you are
genuinely interested in helping women here are a few things you can do:

1. Sensitise women to stop bearing the
brunt of even the slightest act of immoral conduct. Most women refrain from
reporting instances and incidents that have happened with them for fear of
social repercussions. Embolden women to stand up for themselves. Even the
smallest act of indecency must not be tolerated. Raise your voice immediately.

2. Sensitise men to understand the
importance of women. It takes two hands to clap. The cases of young love-
failures killing their lady love is an indication that these young men are
viewing women as objects of desire nothing more. This not only a social problem
it is a massive psychological problem too. There must be a remedy sought out
for this.

3. Make volunteer groups and talk to
schools and colleges to make Self Defence compulsory and part of the
curriculum. In Pune a gentleman teaches young girls self- defence each day. Can
we not have more such people to help?

4. Talk to the owners of shops whether it
is your local grocery store or chemist. Make pepper sprays available freely. As
on today a normal pepper spray costs anywhere between Rs. 150- 500. Can all
women really afford this? You could make a difference by talking to the dealers
and getting them to lower the prices of these essentials.

5. Instead of taking to the streets make
a special appeal to companies and owners of workplaces which expect their
female employees to stay late hours at work to start early and end early.

6. Encourage the masses to stand up against
injustice and not turn away from the crime happening in front of them. The
police must be intimated immediately.

7. Ask for police patrolling in the late
hours of the night too.

Apart
from this there is one other point I would like to shed light upon. A few women
quite vociferously stated, “We have the right to wear what we want, walk the
streets as we like, etc, etc.” All very well but given the current
circumstances is it practical? Even law enforcements will take time to buck up.
Can’t we as sensible thinking women practice a little restraint for now?
Cautionary measures are essential and practical.

The
society is neither made up by the 750 members sitting in the hallowed halls of
democracy, is not defined by the law enforcements and can by no means be
determined by the judiciary. Each system works in sync with the other. But
these systems are pointless and spineless without the help and support of the
people as a whole. Laws can be amended, Parliament and Police systems changed
but what about the mentality of these human beasts, can they be rectified? This
is why I will not register my protest by standing in full view of a television
camera screaming “Stop Rapes and rapists” and promote my country to be a
successful failure. Instead I will use my voice, my liberty and my freedom of
expression to appeal to the conscience of the masses. Temporary pressure on the
government will not give a permanent solution to heinous acts of violence. A
progressive mindset is the only solution.

The
Mayans predicted that 2012 was the end. Yes it should be the end
to intolerance, apathy and insensitivity. May the New Year 2013 bring in
hope of a new tomorrow and an India that is free from the clutches of
intolerant savage brutes.

I hope
this letter reaches maximum number of young people. I am one of you and I am
appealing to you,Let’s
create change, not just talk about it!

4 comments:

Dear Katherine,As usual your ability to cut through to the crux of the debate is obvious. These protests won't ultimately achieve much and like you indicated may end up causing more harm than good. And almost all of your solutions are practical and achievable.But you have absolved this Govt and the political class of all responsibility. Govt has a responsibility to ensure the safety of it's citizens. This case is exceptional because of it's brutality. Its shaken a lot of people out of their stupor. That's why we're seeing this uproar. As a young woman, you will obviously know the various forms of harassment women in India face daily. Rape's just the worst form of this daily assault. And it's not going to go away in one day regardless of how much we protest or how many Commissions the Govt sets up. But there are things Govt can do. Here are some of the things I think they can and should do. 1) Withdraw tax payer funded security to all MPs/MLAs accused of crimes against women and suspend such persons from respective parties pending acquittal. It may be only symbolic, but lets face it this Govt needs some good PR.2) Make all crimes against women non-bailable.3) While I agree that making rape punishable by death is likely to decrease rates of convictions, I also think that 7years isn't enough for a crime that the victim lives with for life. So, increase the penalty for committing rape and debate the worth of all options including chemical castration (which I favor), life imprisonment and death.4) Implement police reforms that allow our policemen to do their duty without fear of retribution. Make gender sensitization mandatory. Penalize cops who harass women. Beginning with Delhi, set up a special wing of the police force to deal with crime against women. And staff it with people with a proven track record of compassion and efficiency.5) Invest in infrastructure and training to set up a forensics dept that allows the proper retrieval and examination of evidence including DNA that is required to obtain convictions.6) I'm sure you have an opinion on fast track courts, but since the Govt's already agreed to it, form fasttrack courts and ensure it's smooth functioning.7) The Delhi Police is on record that they've identified 20000 dark stretches of road in and around the NCR, but are waiting for a response from Civil agencies for action. The Govt can immediately put an end to this kind of sad Red-tapism that costs lives.This much can be done right away. Instead all we have got so far, is meaningless platitudes and high-handedness.For someone so young and obviously intelligent, I have one word of advice for you. Keep an open mind and try and temper your dogmatic faith in the Congress party. Some of the criticism of this Govt is justified.

Sanjeev Nairji I respect your opinion as same as my opinion but, If Congress Party responsible for what is going to happen in India, Then what about India's First "Play-Boy" Club started in Goa under the BJP pure Hindu party.. All Party in India, All people in India R Responsible for this. Because WE R like Gandhiji's 3 Monkey, Just watching, not listening or not talking anything against when incidence happening. So then why we blaming other? or Pushing responsible to others?. We should Understand each-other, Help each-other, and most important Respect each-other no matter the person in your front is men or women. Then we definitely build a Great "SAMAJ"...

let's pledge that we will raise our voices whenever we are depicted as commodities........let's seriously concentrate on the entertainment media which has immense impact on the moral psyche of the youth (both male and female).....let's not be hypocritical by criticizing sheela,munni,chameli and fevicol-type songs on one hand ... and happily dancing on them while having fun on the other hand